


a cup of cheer

by somethinglikegumption



Series: most wonderful time of the year [5]
Category: Riverdale (TV 2017)
Genre: Drinking, F/M, Fake/Pretend Relationship, mentions of bullying, really what else do you need to know?
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-12-19
Updated: 2018-12-19
Packaged: 2019-09-22 15:56:22
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 763
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17062661
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/somethinglikegumption/pseuds/somethinglikegumption
Summary: Betty breaks up with her boyfriend a week before Christmas. As she drowns her sorrows in an airport bar, a kind stranger offers a listening ear and possibly a solution to keep her from having to break the news to her mother.





	a cup of cheer

**Author's Note:**

> [Sullypants](https://sullypants.tumblr.com/) prompted this one with the line "used to laugh and call him names" and the airport location. I just added a splash of alcohol and a pinch of fake dating.
> 
> (Side note: "a cup of cheer" is a glass of wine and no one can convince me otherwise.)

Thank God for airport bars, Betty thinks to herself as she nurses the third glass of wine of her six hour layover. Booking a last-minute flight a week before Christmas meant getting the middle seat, eating the worst meal option, and dealing with the longest layovers in the history of flying.

Of course, she also took the very first flight she could get after finding her boyfriend in bed with another woman two days before they were supposed to go to her parents’ house for Christmas and do the whole “meet the family” thing. 

Which led to where she was now: drowning her sorrows at O’Hare, waiting for the connection to take her to New York where she has to break the news to her mother. Her mother, who’s been emailing her about the daughters of the ladies in her book club who are already married with kids. Who heard Betty was bringing a man home and started looking up venues available for a wedding next June.

She slugs down the rest of the glass.

The bartender already knows to keep it coming and starts pouring her another glass when a body settles on the seat next to her.

“IPA please, whatever you have on tap is fine,” the man says. 

The bartender barely finishes filling her up before she’s grabbing it back and taking another huge gulp. 

The man sitting next to her shifts in his seat before speaking. “So, uh, not looking forward to the holidays either?”

Betty props her elbow on the bar and rests her head on her hand before turning to answer. “I guess you could say that.”

The stranger nods his head in solidarity. “Family troubles?”

“Boyfriend troubles. Well, ex-boyfriend troubles now,” she clarifies.

He winces in response. Holding out his hand, he introduces himself. “If we’re discussing our problems, I’d at least like to have a name to go with the story. I’m Jughead.”

Betty lifts herself up fully and turns in her seat to take his hand. “Betty.”

A pint glass is placed in front of Jughead and he gestures for Betty to start her story.

“Not much to tell really. He started sleeping with someone he works with and left me to walk in on them together. Worst part is we share an apartment and now my favorite holiday flannel sheets have to be burned.”

The bartender chooses that moment to crank up the annoyingly peppy Christmas music playing in the bar. Betty snorts as a thought about the song enters her mind unbidden, and Jughead glances at her with a question in his eyes.

“How bright is this reindeer’s nose that it can clear cloud cover?” she asks. “Wouldn’t he blind the other reindeer if it’s that bright up close?”

(Betty now begins to realize she may be a little more intoxicated than she thought.)

“The real question is how Santa let such rampant bullying overrun his reindeer team,” he says. “That can really affect morale, you know.”

It’s Betty’s turn to question, and Jughead laughs as he takes another sip of his beer. 

“’Used to laugh and call him names’? That was my curse in high school,” he tells her. “I wore a ratty old beanie and went by Jughead, so naturally I was the easiest person to pick on.”

“Yikes,” Betty murmurs, taking a sip of the water she had ignored for three rounds of drinks. “That sounds awful.”

“As awful as the fact that my sister’s now dating one of the instigators and I’m going to have to spend Christmas with him?” he asks.

Now he’s the one to suck down the rest of his drink.

“Centerville’s a small town so I would have run into him sometime,” he continues, “but he’s sleeping on our couch so I have to see him every day.”

Bells of recognition start ringing in her head.

“Centerville, New York?” she asks.

“You’ve heard of it?” he says in surprise.

A smile crosses her face for the first time today. “I’m going to Riverdale!”

“Wait, ‘Pop’s Chocklit Shoppe’ Riverdale? I used to drive there every weekend my senior year. I loved his burgers,” he says wistfully.

On the spur of the moment, with the alcohol blocking any rational thought she may have left, she has a completely crazy and possibly terrible idea.

“Since we’re going the same place,” she starts, and takes another sip for courage, “instead of going back to Centerville and dealing with that childhood trauma…would you mind coming to Riverdale with me and pretending to be my boyfriend for the holiday?”


End file.
